A Matter of Opinion
by Evakoto
Summary: Iruka is nothing special. He knows this. Then again, if you ask someone else, maybe he is.
1. Nothing Special

** A Matter of Opinion**

**Rating**: PG

**Summary**: Umino Iruka has never been anything special. He doesn't ever expect to hear any different.

**Disclaimer**: I own nothing Naruto. I get my anime fix from Cartoon Network and fan fiction.

******Nothing Special**

Umino Iruka is easily embarrassed. He usually has a slight blush dusting across his features when talking to his superiors, or to those he isn't well acquainted with. It is a well-known fact, and that makes him a favourite target of good-natured teasing.

If nothing else, Umino Iruka blushes prettily.

He isn't particularly good looking, and the only remotely distinguishing thing about him is the scar running across the bridge of his nose. In a village full of shinobi, however, scars are really nothing special. He had been an average gennin, an average chuunin, and now is an average jounin - if there is such a thing.

Iruka had never been outstanding – neither poorly performed, nor exceeding expectations in his chosen path. As a child, he had played pranks to get attention. As an adult, he had learned to fade a little more into the background.

He teaches. He files mission reports. He goes on the occasional mission himself.

He buys lots and lots of ramen for one Uzumaki Naruto.

Aside from that last, Iruka is considered a well-balanced, if self-conscious individual who knows how to carry a blush with charm.

So when, out of the blue, he is called into the Fifth Hokage's office, he thinks that it must be something about the Academy - or, maybe, something about Naruto.

At the latter thought, his stomach makes some interesting attempts at acrobatics, and Umino Iruka picks up his pace, just a little.

He does not in any way expect the praise for his performance during his (admittedly rare) missions, and most certainly not the offer of a place in the ANBU standard missions teams.

He has been blushing from the moment he walked into the office, of course, and as Tsunade smiles up at him from behind her desk and holds out a white mask to him, all he can think of to say is; that beyond the basics, he's never been particularly skilled with a katana.

* * *

Author's Notes: 

Yes, I am using the term 'author' loosely. I'm aware that the title is rather lame, but that's no biggie.

I have no beta, so my apologies if this is something that is better left on my laptop rather than the world-wide-web.


	2. Something Extraordinary

**A Matter of Opinion**

**Rating**: PG

**Summary**: Hatake Kakashi has never been unremarkable. Hatake Kakashi hasn't ever had any problems with keeping the truth from those who deserve to hear it, either.

**Disclaimer**: I own nothing Naruto. I get my anime fix from Cartoon Network and fan fiction.

**Something Extraordinary**

Hatake Kakashi hadn't ever really planned on going back to the ANBU – after the drama with Team Seven, even the ANBU Black Ops would be tame by comparison. Besides, he was only getting older.

A prodigy from the moment he had stepped foot into the Academy, it hadn't been all that long before he stepped right back out of it as a six year old gennin. He was only seven years old the first time he killed.

It wasn't even just the one opponent. No, Kakashi could never have entered the Shinobi way of life so quietly, and unremarkably.

He took out almost a whole gennin team, while his own sensei took care of the other jounin instructor. It was an exercise in bureaucratic idiocy. The three gennin he killed were from the Water Country, and had been under the impression that the man that Kakashi's team was escorting was a missing ninja.

He had, in fact, been exactly that, and had thought it would be a good joke to see how many of the Hidden Villages he could infiltrate and fool. If everyone had just done their homework properly, they could've connected the dots from the Bingo Book right to his nihilistic, undeserving throat, and in the process, saved many lives.

Instead, Kakashi's team was redeployed immediately, where yet another C-rank mission turned A-rank. His life had never been normal, and when he joined the ANBU as an early teen, he discovered that he couldn't even go through puberty without causing a stir. His very appearance made him a (coveted) mystery.

So Kakashi had never been someone who could fade into the background. He was described by those who knew him as 'hip', 'cool', 'extraordinary'… variations on a theme. He was never boring. He was a striking figure in a homogeneous society. He was always late.

He even occasionally went out for ramen with Naruto, the 'Nine Tails Kid' who had made even the ANBU look so boring.

Now in his early thirties, and back on the ANBU Black Ops, he isn't particularly surprised when he is called into the Hokage's office between missions.

He is, however, a little bemused upon seeing a blushing jounin he recognised as Naruto's idol, Umino Iruka. He is even a little surprised to see the white ANBU mask dangling at his hip, and the katana strapped to his back.

But Hatake Kakashi has never, never been in a normal, unremarkable situation for more than a few hours at a time during his entire life, so he accepts a new subordinate, and student that day. Never mind that any ninja going into the ANBU damn well shouldn't need any more training - not beyond an introduction to any classified information and all the things they don't tell the general populace.

At any rate, a few weeks later, he's smiling at a blushing Iruka, and telling him that his sword work is passable, and as good as anyone's in the ANBU. A few hours after that, he stands in front of the Hokage, and tells her truthfully that the ANBU has never seen the like of Umino Iruka when it comes to killing with a katana. When the Hokage smiles, Kakashi finds himself going so far as to admit that Umino is the best damned swordsman he has ever seen.

* * *

Author's Notes:

So, a little two-shot that may become a trilogy of ficlets. Iruka-sensei pwns...XD

I would like to take this opportunity to reiterate my lack of a beta.

Thank you.


End file.
